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'Alister Clark' rose Reviews & Comments
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Shovel pruning this today. It's simply too nasty to be worth bothering with. I'll replace it with something friendlier.
Edit: Found a good home for it. A friend is willing to take it on, so I'll dig it up nicely and wrap the rootball in burlap for her.
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Edit again: Over 5 1/2 years later, it's still where it was. Instead of shovel pruning it I basically ignored it. Am now trying to decide if it's worth moving to a better spot (ie: not in a flood zone).
Considering how nasty it is to work with, a suitable spot would (IMO) have to...
a/ not let it overhang a path, at all.
b/ be raised enough to allow convenient maintenance (I do NOT want to be grovelling on the ground around this mongrel of a thing).
At the moment I don't have a suitable raised bed, but I am thinking of building one or more anyway, so obstreperous beastie may end up ensconced in one (if it's lucky). What could really suit it is using it as a centrepiece in a raised bed, with AC raised above everything else, so that the soil surface around it was easily accessible.
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I have reached the point where I am seriously considering removing this rose and giving it to an enemy.
It looks nice. It smells nice. It has a good growth habit. The problem is the thorns. It is just such a nasty little thing to work with. Even cutting a few flowers from the extremities of the bush is annoying, and weeding around it is nightmare.
So I'm starting to think that there are plenty of other roses that look nice, and smell nice, and have a decent growth habit.
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Do you wear gardening gloves?
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Sometimes. Body armour would be more to the point with this beastie. Even if you don't get spiked, you'll still get snagged. It's just an annoying rose to deal with.
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I have just discovered that Alister Clark's buds open remarkably well if cut early for the vase. A handy trait. It also lasts fairly well as a cut flower, although the scent seems to be better on the plant than in the vase.
I suppose it's possible that the blooms need a bit more time on the plant to develop their scent, and won't show it to the same extent if cut early. Haven't tested that yet, but will try to remember to.
It really is a most vicious and obstreperous little mongrel of a thing to work around though. It has thorns everywhere. Lots of them. They are not large, but they are hooked and they are all needle sharp. No matter how careful and cunning you think you are, this thing will find a way to bite you.
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Updated information:
Forms a fairly dense network of branches, all of which are covered in smallish but very sharp thorns.
Not a friendly little beast to deal with in that respect.
Overall bush form is pretty good, but it's prone to defoliation.
Currently on probation.
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